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Soup Dive
Soups, chowders and
gumbos galore.
p
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to found a state. It's little to ask to walk a few miles to help
sustain it. Please join me on Sunday, May 6th."
-Dr. Guy Stern
For more information, please visit www.walkforisrael.org
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36
April 5 • 2012
amela Matthews scooped up a
life-changing opportunity last
April when she signed the lease
on a vacant Baskin Robbins ice cream
store on 12 Mile Road in Southfield.
By Nov. 28, frosty treats had given
way to hearty chowders at her healthy,
fast food restaurant, Soup Dive. It's east
of Northwestern Highway, behind the
sports bar/restaurant, Mr.
Joe's.
Before opening her restau-
rant, Matthews was a traveling
insurance claims adjuster. At
home in Southfield, she liked
cooking nutritious meals for
her husband and their blend-
ed family. 'What she didn't like
were the food options on the
road. "I found it hard to find
something quick and healthy
to eat',' she said.
Once she'd decided to
leave her successful but
ultimately unfulfilling career, Matthews
was inspired to go with what she knew
best: serving her family's favorite recipes
at her own little diner. Soup Dive — "a
fusion of healthy and delicious" — is
the concept she developed and hopes
will translate into "my kitchen in every
neighborhood in the United States:'
For now, at her first location in
Southfield, she's relying on the skill of
Chef Jon Rodgers, a culinary arts stu-
dent at the Art Institutes of Novi. He
makes menu items from scratch, using
high-quality and often organic produce,
herbs, fish and cage-free chickens. Soup
Dive also makes accommodations for
vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, low-fat
and low-sodium diets.
Yalonda Barney, the front-of-the-
house manager, greets arrivals with a
cheerful "Welcome to Soup Dive!" and
invites them to sample any of the six
soups set out behind a pink granite/lam-
inate counter. The 20 soups in rotation
include a wonderful deep green cream
of broccoli. The vegetable is pureed with
fragrant spices and a few florets added.
Simplicity itself
More delicious soups include wild
cream of mushroom, enhanced with
onions and parsley. Nikki Nickerson,
Matthews' daughter and business part-
ner, provided the recipe. Chef Jon added
his white bean chicken chili and New
England dam chowder.
The star of the show, however, is Dive
Gumbo. Matthews' version isn't the tradi-
tional one made with okra, sausage and
chicken. Because she's a seafood lover,
she chose to load her gumbo with jumbo
crabmeat and bite-sized shrimp, plus cel-
ery, onions, green pepper and herbs. Her
roux (the gumbo "gravy") is made with
healthier, organic whole-wheat flour. The
flavor is outstanding, just spicy enough,
and the individual ingredients pop out.
Favorable customer response is why Dive
Gumbo is offered daily.
The seafood soups are
excluded from the restau-
rant's special $7.95 meal
combo, which offers a choice
of two items: 8 ounce soup,
garden salad or half of a
deli-style sandwich. Those
sandwiches are made with
Boar's Head brand Black
Forest turkey and corned
beef, both low-sodium and
gluten-free. More choices are
Dive albacore tuna, grilled
chicken breast and herb
grilled cheese sandwiches.
They go nicely on sun-dried tomato
swirl bread, when available.
Wild salmon croquette is another
popular Soup Dive item. Chef Jon
lightly breads fresh wild Coho salmon
in panko breadcrumbs and bakes the
fish for 15 minutes. Then, the croquette
is sauteed in olive oil, seared on both
sides till ifs golden brown. A dollop
of green "secret" sauce goes on top of
the croquette, which is served inside
a small onion roll along with let-
tuce, tomato, red onion and fresh dill.
So light and tasty! Ask, and you can
have more of the delectable sauce put
in a small cup beside the sandwich for
dunking. You'll want to.
Look for the wild Coho salmon soon
to be grilled and placed atop salads,
accompanied by peach mimosa dress-
ing. Rounding out the menu, Soup Dive
makes several flatbreads including a
spinach-mushroom variety.
A former ice cream shop, gutted
from floor to ceiling and redecorated in
a contemporary style with several high-
top tables, is what Matthews now calls
"a cozy little dive to come in and have
a nice, wonderful lunch:' Or, place your
take-home dinner order no later than
6:45. Closing time is at 7. ❑
-
26051 W.12 Mile Road
Southfield, MI 48034
(248) 262-7300
www.soupdive.com
$$ (moderate) out of $$$$$